Though it's turning 100, Eagle Scouting was not part of original program

Scouting’s highest honor celebrates its 100th birthday this year. Surprisingly, it was not part of the original Boy Scout advancement program. "Scouting for Boys," Robert Baden-Powell’s 1908 Scout handbook, included just three classes of Scouts — Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Cla...

By Derek Vital

The Taunton Daily Gazette, Taunton, MA

By Derek Vital

Posted Jun. 21, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 21, 2012 at 9:21 PM

By Derek Vital

Posted Jun. 21, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 21, 2012 at 9:21 PM

» Social News

Scouting’s highest honor celebrates its 100th birthday this year. Surprisingly, it was not part of the original Boy Scout advancement program.

"Scouting for Boys," Robert Baden-Powell’s 1908 Scout handbook, included just three classes of Scouts — Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class — along with the Wolf badge, which was “a reward for very special distinction.” This badge was so significant that no more than one would be granted each year.

The Silver Wolf Award would go to any First Class Scout who earned all 14 “badges of merit”: Ambulance, Clerk, Cyclist, Electrician, Fireman, Gardener, Horseman, Pioneer, Marksman, Master-at-Arms, Musician, Signaller, Seaman and Stalker. Baden-Powell was given the nickname Impeesa, meaning “the wolf that never sleeps,” while fighting a war in what is now Zimbabwe in 1896.

By contrast, to achieve the Eagle rank today, a Boy Scout must rise through five preceding ranks, earn 21 merit badges, serve in a troop leadership position, plan and carry out a community service project, participate in a Scoutmaster conference and pass an Eagle Scout board of review.

It was later determined that America’s national bird should grace Scouting’s highest award. After the Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910, the 1911 Handbook for Boys, the first publicly available edition, introduced the Eagle Scout Award, as well as two lesser awards: Life Scout and Star Scout.

Arthur Rose Eldred, a member of Troop 1 in Oceanside, N.Y., earned his 21st merit badge in April 1912 at the age of 16 becoming the first Eagle Scout. Eldred’s Eagle medal is now on display at the National Scouting Museum, in Texas. The medal had an impressive and dignified look that’s been retained, with only minor variations, for its entire history.